Mobile Gas Chromatographs Coupled with Mass and Ion Mobility Spectrometers and their Applications

Chemical analysis of different materials at the place where analytes are present (on-site analysis) has several advantages in comparison to analysis of these materials after delivering the samples to laboratory. Mobile devices, possessing expected properties in terms of using energy, mass and volume are needed for such analyses. The obtained results should be comparable to those obtained with the stationary instruments. Mass and ion mobility spectrometers are examples of the instruments fulfilling these requirements. At the beginning, the article describes the developments in combining of mass and ion mobility spectrometers (MS, IMS) with miniature gas chromatographs (GC). Both systems are used for analyses in the field, mainly for determination of environmental pollutions. They are used not only for analysis of typical chemicals present in different environmental compartments (in air, water and soil samples) but also for analysis of explosives, drugs and chemical warfare agents when fast results are needed. Particularly noteworthy is their applications in space exploration on the International Space Station. The selected examples of applications of miniaturised GC-MS and GC-IMS devices are presented in the second part of this mini review.